Apparatus for attaching elastic bands to garments



Marcli 10, 1953 A. J. CAPRARA ETAL 2,630,773

APPARATUS FOR ATTACHING ELASTIC BANDS TO GARMENTS 3 Sheets-Sheet l I Filed Feb. 12, 1951 INVENTORS APPARATUS FOR ATTACHING ELASTIC BANDS TO GARMENTS Filed Feb. 12, 1951 March 1953 A. J. CAPRARA ET AL 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fiaaj FIGS.

IN VENToRs ANDRE a. OAPRARA ADA M 6. KA WKA A.J.CAPRARA ETAL March 10,1953

APPARATUS FOR ATTACHING ELASTIC BANDS TO GARMENTS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 12, 1951 INVENTORS ANDRE 7"- CAPRARA ADAM G.KA\4//(A Patented Mar. 10, 1953 APPARATUS FOR ATTACHING ELASTIC BANDS TO GAR-MENTS- AndrJeaniCaprara:and Adam Czclaw Kawka,

' .Paris, France Application February "12, 1951, Scxia'lNo. "21 09162 111 France February 10, 13750 5 Claims. 1 Until now, elastic ribbons, especially made (of rubber and placed in the rherns of fashioned articles such as drawers, slips :and the were introduced continuously inside the 11cm being formed on the sewing machine, then cut at the end of said hem, the two ends of the elasticribbon being attached'together, .It'was thus necessary to use "ribbons, the elastic material of which, such as rubber, was coated with a textile material, such as cotton, to makezit possible "to sew the ends together; said elastic ribbons, coated with cotton "has only a :limited elasticity =1( of the order of 150%.). In addition, theywvere soon damaged and destroyed :by :the productsused :for washing clothes. Their "application required complicated operations which increased consider ably the cost of the articles.

The present invention -;obviates these :drawbacks by creating a device, applicable to :a :sewing machine, allowing the introduction lot .22, ribbon of a very elastic material, :such as latex t'fiwhich may have an elongation :coefilcient :of 7 0.0%"), manufactured in the shape of :an endless band, directly inside the marginal hem of a clothing article or the like, at the time of the formation of said hem by the curling device on the sewing machine.

According to the invention, the device is characterized by four pulleys rotating about upright axles, attached to orientable supports,themselves I associated with the table of .a sewing machine, the endless rubber ribbon being 3111211218 to :pass under tension around said pulleys, .one of which is placed before the guide for the "hem formmion preceding the presser foot of the sewing machine. This pulley has two groovesasmallupper groove for reversing the elastic ribbon to offer it substantially horizontally to the hemming guide and another lower sgroove :being :llSBd :for guiding the fabric which enters the curling guide.

According to other features, the device cornprises a supporting frame for the four pulleys, making it possible to orient each one of them in a position ensuring a perfect guiding of the endless elastic ribbon. Three of the pulleys consist of a slightly trunco-conical lower flange and a trunco-com'cal upper flange which causes the ribbon to move down into the bottom of the groove formed by the assembly of two truncoconical flanges. These pulleys are mounted on very soft operating bearings, particularly .ball bearings, on the upright axles supported by the frame. :The frame consists of apart, for attachment to the sewing machine, which includes a plurality of round bars supported in :such aman- .2 nor :as1-to :be able Ito rotate individually about their own axle and tube locked inn set position, thus giving. :a :great .facility of orientation for the pulleys. The fourth pulley, with two grooves, :is to lbe placed in front aof the hem stitcher :on the sewing machine :to .lead thereto the edge of the fabric of the article and the :elastic ribbon is presentedfiat above the-edge of the fabric. The fourth putley is supported by an articulated bracket allowing the easy raising and lowering of mulleynndazguide, placed on two of the pulleyscauses the hem formed to deviate to prevent :it .z'from "coming in contact with the pulleys. An apron attached :on the support also prevents the fashioned rarticle to be caught by certain :pantsnf the device.

Two types .n'f embodiment of the device :according to :the invention are shown, by way of examples, in the appended drawings.

.i'igure 1 a perspective view of La first type of embodiment;

Figure :2 is a transverse section of one pulley.

Figure 53 is :a side elevation :of the articulated support of a pulley.

Figure 4 is aperspective view-"of asecond type of -:eni-bodiment.

:Figure dis ;a section along line V-V of Figure :4.

Figure 6 is a plane *view corresponding to Eigure 55.

ZEigure E7 is "a side elevation of T9. pulley showing, the inclination @f the pulley with respect to the perpendicular.

According to Figure 1, l is a sleeve attached to the frame of 8 sewing machine (not shown), by an attachment plate 2.

A bent "round bar 3 is iintroducediin the sleeve l-and isrl'oclred therein by aset screw l. Grooved pulleys 6 :azrermonnted on axles :5 and 6 respectively 21) which :are fixed to "the bent bar :3; a second sb'ent '=bar 1 :is introduced at the other end ct the ssleeve and carries 'a grooved pulley 8, similar to pull'eys *5 :and ;6. The pulley 8 being mounted-on mile B (Fig. '29 which is fixed to :bar fl in the same manner as axles 5 and 6" are fixed to bar 3. Sockets may also be provided in the bars 3 and :1 at right angles 'to each other to receivethe axles 5, 6 and :8". The sockets having their ends so positioned with relation to the axis :of the bars that the axles may be positioned in a horizontal or vertical plane, thus permitting angular adjustment of the pulleys 5, Brand 8 with "relation to the axis nfthe bars '3 and .An :arm 3, integral with and on one end :of the lbazr J is in :a suitable manner and carries at its free end a sliding support I 0, which is longitudinally adjustable along the arm 9. The support carries a hinge l l on which is mounted a grooved pulley 12. The adjustment of support [0 being accomplished by means of a bore Iii which receives the end of the arm 9 (Fig. 3), a set screw l0" engaging the end of the arm 9 to retain the support l0 in adjusted relation to the arm 9.

The grooved pulleys 5, 6, 8 and I2 form the angles of a frame on which a rubber, latex or the like ribbon I 3 is placed.

As shown in Figure 2, the pulleys 5, 6 and 8 comprise a trunco-conical working face l4 and a flange l5, also trunco-conical, the apex angle of which is opposite that of the trunco-conical working face 14. These pulleys are mounted on bearings Is, for instance ball bearings, and are inclined respectively on the bent bar 3 and the bent bar 1 with respect to the perpendicular by an angle substantially equal to the angle of cone of the lower flange of the pulleys (Fig. 7). The axles 5, B and 8 on which the pulleys 5, 6 and 8 rotate are inclined on bars 3 and I so that the conical part I5 of each pulley will be substantially in line at their inner portion (aFigs. 1, 4 and '7). In this position the pulleys will maintain the side of the ribbon [3 in contact with the lower portion of the trunco conical working face M and the edge of the ribbon iii in contact with the cone l5. This angle is important for if the axles 5', B and 8' were in perpendicular relation to the bars 3 and I the ribbon i3 would run off of the pulleys.

The pulley 12, mounted on the hinge H of the sliding support H] comprises a narrow upper groove H which reverses the ribbon l3 to offer it substantially horizontally to the hemming guide 26; and a wider lower groove i8 which is used to guide the fabric which enters the curling guide. The second groove I8 is also used to form the marginal hem inside of which the ribbon is placed when it is brought into engagement with the hemming guide 20. For the formation of this marginal hem by the pulley, the operator maintains the edge of the fabric against the inner wall of the pulley so that as the pulley rotates the edge of the ribbon, which is received in groove ll, will be turned over to bring the turned over edge into overlapping relationship with the side of the ribbon. It is mounted on bearings i9 similar to the bearings [6 of the pulleys 5, 6 and 8.

The ribbon of rubber or of other elastic material I3 is compelled to move on its edge at the base of the working surface of each one of the pulleys 5, 5 and 8 due to the inclination of the latter with respect to the horizontal and it is compelled to move on its edge in the narrow groove I! of the pulley 12, so that it is presented substantially flat after the latter, considering a direction of rotation along the arrow 1.

A hemming guide keeps the rubber ribbon l3 horizontally and on edge up to the presser foot 2! of the sewing machine.

To place the elastic holding ribbon for an under-garment such as drawers, slips or the like, the position of the bent bars 3 and l in the sleeve I is adjusted by means of the screw 4 so as to obtain a frame, the perimeter of which is substantially larger than that of the elastic rib bon used for a given size of undergarment, so that said ribbon be slightly stretched on the frame; to facilitate this operation, the hinge H is pivoted in the position i la shown in dotted lines in Figure 3; the rubber ribbon being arranged on the pulleys, the hinge II is brought back to its initial position, which automatically places the elastic ribbon [3 under tension in the hemming guide 20, then the presser foot 2| of the sewing machine is lowered and the machine is put in operation until all the elastic ribbon I3 is enclosed inside the hem stitched by the machine.

According to the modification of Figure 4, the sleeve I is replaced by a support 22 in which a groove with a partially cylindrical section 23 is formed. Two axles, 24 and 25 can slide inside the groove 23 and be locked by conical screws 26 or any other suitable device.

The axles 21 and 28 are provided with conical ends 21' and 28' respectively, which are inserted into similarly shaped openings 21" and 28" respectively in the axles 24 and 25. The axles 21 and 28 may be rotated. by such mounting to adjust the angular relation of the axles 5', 6 and 8' with respect to the perpendicular. Set screws 21" and 28" respectively, when screwed into the ends 21 and 28' respectively of the axles 21 and 28 will retain the axles at any adjusted 01' set position. Thus the pulleys 5, 6 and 8 will be inclined with respect to the vertical plane passing through the longitudinal axis of the axles 21 and 2B which may also be adjusted with respect to the horizontal plane passing through the longitudinal axis of axles 24 and 25. The axles 24 and 25 may also be rotated and locked in set position by means of screws 28.

The pulleys 5, 6 are mounted on axles 29, 30, perpendicularly to the axle 21.

The pulley 8 is mounted in the same manner on an axle 3| perpendicular on the axle 28. A guide 32, consisting of a metal plate or the like, suitably shaped, is attached above the two pulleys 5 and '6 and comprises a finger 32a parallel with the direction of the elastic ribbon l3.

An apron 33 is attached on the axle 25 of support 22 beneath the pulley 8 by a screw 38, so as to protect the fabric against any asperities which may exist on said support.

A slot 34 allows an access to the locking screws 26.

The arm 9 is replaced by a bent axle 35 which is mounted in a bearing 40 attached to the support 22 and on which a support 36 can slide and be locked at the set position; this support at its free end, comprises a hinge 31 on which the pulley I 2 is mounted. The opposite end of the bent axle 35 is inserted into the opening 40' in the bearing 40 which is secured to the support 22 by means of a screw 4! and a set screw 42 in the bearing 40 will engage and retain the end of the axle 35 in the bearing 40 in any adjusted or set position.

The operation of the device is identical with that described above in connection with Figure 1.

We claim:

1. A device for passing an endless elastic ribbon inside a marginal hem being formed in a fashioned article, comprising a main support, means for attaching said main support to the table of a sewing machine, a frame arm connected to each end of said support, a plurality of vertically disposed axles fixed to said frame arms in spaced relation to each other, a horizontally disposed trunco-conical grooved pulley journalled on each of said axles in the same plane, a second support pivoted on one end of one of said frame arms, a vertically disposed axle fixed to said second support, a pulley journalled on said last axle in the same plane as said first pulleys,

said last pulley having two grooves therein, a lower groove for guiding the fabric, and a smaller upper groove for guiding the elastic ribbon flat over the fabric, said last pulley adapted to be arranged ahead of a hem stitcher on-a sewing machine preceding the presser foot of the machine.

2. A device for passing an endless elastic ribbon inside a marginal hem being formed in a fashioned article, comprising a main support, means for attaching said main support to the table of a sewing machine, said main support provided with a longitudinally extending groove having a partially circular section therein, a round bar stub positioned in said groove at each end of the main support and extending outwardly of said main support, said stubs adapted to be rotated about their axes and means for retaining said stubs in selected adjusted positions, an arm attached to each free end of each stub and extending at right angles thereto in the same plane and direction, said arms adapted to be rotated about their axes and means for retaining said arms in selected adjusted positions, a pair of vertically disposed axles secured to one of said arms, a pulley journalled on each of said axles, a vertically disposed axle secured to the other of said arms, a pulley journalled on said last said axle, a bearing member attached to one end of said main support, a right angularly disposed bar journalled in said bearing member, means for retaining said right angularly disposed bar in selected adjusted positions, an auxiliary support mounted for rotation on said right angularlydise posed bar, means for retaining said auxiliary supgrooves with the upper groove being narrower than the lower groove.

4. The device as in claim 2 wherein a guide is provided for covering the first said pulleys and a finger extends from said guide for deflecting the hemmed edge of the article.

5. The device as in claim 2 wherein a protecting apron is secured to said support.

ANDRE JEAN CAPRARA. ADAM CZELAW KAWKA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,857,058 Maier May 3, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 625,300 Germany Feb. 7, 1936 

